Do street trees have a future
The UK MAB (Man and the Biosphere) Urban Forum invites you to a symposium on the subject of street trees and sustainability to be held on Wednesday 12 May 2010 at University College London.
The symposium “Do Street Trees Have a Future?” will consider the case for and against trees in the urban environment and will address issues such as health and well-being, economics, aesthetics, wind throw effects on trees, and insurance.
The UK MAB National Committee oversees and manages UNESCO’s MAB (Man and the Biosphere) Programme in the UK. The UK MAB Urban Forum is a network of the National Committee which brings together managers, planners and researchers involved with the environment and nature conservation in urban areas. Read more about the UK and the MAB Programme here.
This symposium will be a platform for debate and will ask a series of controversial questions:
- Why were street trees originally planted?
- Have ‘subsidence’ concerns now over-ruled common sense?
- Are large street trees being reduced to small street trees, via use of cultivars, in current planting projects?
- What about the wholesale removal of large street trees?
- Are efforts to value street trees in terms of their ‘economics’ failing, or are there at least some partial successes?
- Can local political protection or sustainability considerations of trees as ‘intergenerational objects’ offer them better protection?
Getting to the heart of these issues, the event will reflect passion, case studies, experiences and current practice as well as academic debate. The symposium will call for delegates to share their experiences with the aim of creating the basis for the development of a ‘street trees toolkit’ for urban planners and changing how urban trees are managed.
For further information visit the UK MAB Urban Forum website at www.ukmaburbanforum.co.uk/
Written: 07/04/2010 , last modified: 07/04/2010
